He sat beside her, tugged her legs across his lap, then snapped a group selfie.
“Lemme see.” Giggling, she examined the photo of their star-struck, goofy grins. “It’s perfect. This whole place is perfect—the ultimate expression of the Trappers Cove vibe, and yet, a hundred percent you.”
“Well, I’ve had a good teacher.” He brushed his lips across hers. ”The best, I’d say.”
“I love you, Xander Anagnos.” She peppered his face with kisses. How had she ever found those three little words difficult to say? Tonight, she wanted to shout them from the rooftops and sky-write them across the spring twilight.
“And I love you, Hannah Leone.” Pulling her onto his lap, he fused his mouth to hers in a hot, drugging kiss. With a lust-drunk moan, she matched him stroke for stroke.
When she finally came up for air, she drawled, “Oh my” in her best Sulu impression.
Catching her cheesy sci-fi joke with nary a wince, he cocked an eyebrow. “Shall we take this to my private quarters?”
She wiggled on his lap, relishing his hard length against her thigh. “Mine are closer.”
“Think again.” He pulled her to her feet and led her outside to another shed tucked behind the museum. Plainer than the others, this one was marked, “Employees Only.”
“Your office?”
“Yup.” He switched on a soft light. “Furnished for comfort.”
The cozy space was paneled in pale wood. A desk sat in the corner, flanked by old-fashioned filing cabinets that held a collection of seashells, a miniature Seattle Space Needle, a triathlon trophy, and framed photos.
She lifted one of a skinny, curly-haired boy grinning beside a young, dark-haired Gus. “Is this you?”
“Yup. I must’ve been around ten. I wanted a reminder of my uncle at his best. I like to think he’d love this place.”
She grasped his waist and snugged him close. “He absolutely would.” Over his shoulder, she spotted her own face smiling from a silver frame. “It’s us!”
During his birthday dinner at Casa Francesca, Trappers Cove’s elegant, old-school Italian restaurant, someone had captured her and Xander gazing at each other starry-eyed over their wineglasses, looking as blissed-out as she felt right now.
“This is my favorite photo of us.” He traced the frame with his fingertip. “Fair warning, Han, I plan to do whatever it takes to keep you looking at me just like you did that night.”
If he kept this up, she’d end the night in a puddle of happy tears.
After another tender kiss, he switched on a little Bluetooth speaker and tapped his phone. The small space filled with the sexy saxophone jazz she’d confessed to loving one wine-soaked night in his RV.
Gripping her hips, he danced her backward to the sofa that took up the office’s back wall. “I want to talk to you about something, Han.”
“Yeah?” She swayed to the slow beat. “Can we discuss it sitting down?”
“Or lying down.” He wound her hair around his fist, tugged her head back, and trailed kisses down her neck. “I do my best thinking lying beside you, beauty.”
“Is that so?” She pulled him onto the cushions, then rolled to straddle him, raking her fingers into his soft curls, and kissed him hungrily.
“So.” He arched his throat, inviting more kisses. “I’ve been talking to Cheryl Rossi.”
“The rental agent?” She nibbled her way down to his collar bone, unfastening his shirt buttons to bare more delicious skin.
“She handles some sales too. She’s got a client looking to unload her beach cottages.”
Hannah bolted upright. “Xander?”
His smile glimmered with happiness and hope. “What do you say, Han? Both our places are awfully small. Would you consider sharing a bigger home with me?”
“In Trappers Cove?”
“Where else? As long as you’re here, there’s no place I’d rather be. If I sell my Seattle condo, we could—”
